Best stock and share brokers

One thing to be clear about before the list. Most brokers here give you shares as contracts for difference rather than shares themselves. A share CFD tracks a company's price without making you a shareholder, which is what lets you go short, use leverage, and hold equities in the same account as forex. eToro is the exception: eligible clients there can buy the underlying stock or ETF as well as trade it.

What each of the top ten is good at

One line each, expanded into a full profile further down.

1. IC Markets - More than 700 share CFDs. Competitive commissions. MetaTrader 5.
2. TabTrade - 1,009 share CFDs. US, European and Hong Kong equities. Low commissions and MT5.
3. Eightcap - Global share CFDs. Competitive conditions. MetaTrader 5 and TradingView.
4. FxPro - Thousands of global share CFDs. ETF CFDs. Extended hours on selected US stocks.
5. XM - Popular global stock derivatives. Fractional trading. Zero commission on selected products.
6. Markets.com - 249 share CFDs and 67 ETFs. Strong proprietary platform. MetaTrader available alongside.
7. AvaTrade - Global stock CFDs. ETF trading. Excellent choice of platforms.

How do the best stock brokers compare?

The brokers worth using for equities give you the companies people actually trade, at a competitive cost, on a platform where finding and trading a single stock is quick.

Two things separate this from conventional share investing. Short selling is straightforward - rather than borrowing stock, you open a sell position from the platform. And leverage means you put up a fraction of a position's value as margin, which increases what your capital can reach and magnifies the loss exactly as much as the gain.

Accounts and platforms

Accounts and platforms

Broker	Min. deposit	Demo	MT4	MT5	Own platform	Min. trade
IC Markets9.5	$200	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	0.01 lots
TabTrade9.3	$0	Yes	No	Yes	No	0.01 lots
Eightcap9.2	$100	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	0.01 lots
FxPro9.1	$0	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	0.01 lots
XM9.1	$5	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	0.01 lots
Markets.com9.0	$100	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	0.01 lots
AvaTrade8.9	$100	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	0.01 lots

From our broker records. Minimum deposits and product availability vary by country, account type and payment method.

Equity coverage

What each broker actually offers on the equity side. These figures are researched for this page rather than held in our broker database, so they are a snapshot rather than a live count.

Equity coverage

Broker	Share CFDs	ETFs	Short selling	Smallest position	Main equity platform
IC Markets9.5	700+	Limited	Yes	0.1 share	MetaTrader 5
TabTrade9.3	1,009	Yes	Yes	1 share	MetaTrader 5
Eightcap9.2	Yes	Limited	Yes	0.01 lots	MT5, TradingView
FxPro9.1	Thousands	Yes	Yes	Fractional	MT4, MT5, cTrader, FxPro
XM9.1	Yes	Limited	Yes	Fractional	MT4, MT5
Markets.com9.0	249	67	Yes	Fractional	Markets.com, MT4, MT5
AvaTrade8.9	Yes	Yes	Yes	Fractional	MT4, MT5, WebTrader, app

All ten cover the US companies most people come for - Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla are on every one of these platforms. The differences are in the depth behind them.

TabTrade lists 1,009 share CFDs, which is most of the 1,173 instruments it offers at all, and reaches beyond the US into European and Hong Kong listings. IC Markets carries more than 700 across NASDAQ, NYSE and the ASX. FxPro runs into the thousands across the US, UK and Europe. eToro has the broadest catalogue of the group and is the only one where the position can be the share itself.

The largest number is not automatically the best answer. Access to the fifty companies you actually trade, priced well, beats ten thousand listings you will never open.

What does trading a share actually cost?

A conventional stockbroker charges a flat fee or a percentage when you buy and sell. CFD pricing is assembled differently, and the commission is only one part of it.

What you pay is some combination of commission, the bid-ask spread, overnight financing if a leveraged position is held past the close, currency conversion where the share and your account are in different currencies, and a dividend adjustment when the underlying company pays out.

So the headline commission does not tell you which broker is cheapest, and for anyone holding positions for more than a day the financing charge usually matters more than the commission did.

How each broker prices a share trade

How each broker prices a share trade

Broker	Share pricing	Separate commission	Overnight financing	Dividend adjustment
IC Markets9.5	Market spread	Yes	Yes	Yes
TabTrade9.3	Market spread plus commission	Yes	Yes	Yes
Eightcap9.2	Market spread plus commission	Yes	Yes	Yes
FxPro9.1	Market spread	Product dependent	Yes	Yes
XM9.1	Spread-based	$0 on selected products	Yes	Yes
Markets.com9.0	Spread-based	Built into the spread	Yes	Yes
AvaTrade8.9	Spread-based	Product dependent	Yes	Yes

The models genuinely differ. IC Markets charges $0.02 per share per side on NASDAQ and NYSE products subject to a minimum, and a percentage of transaction value on Australian shares. Plus500 builds its compensation into the spread and charges no dealing commission. At eToro the answer depends on whether you bought the underlying stock or opened a CFD on it.

Overnight financing is the cost that decides whether these accounts suit you at all. Leveraged CFDs accrue it every night a position stays open, which makes them a tool for active trading rather than for buying a company and holding it for five years.

What about the fees that are not trading fees?

Deposit and withdrawal charges, inactivity fees and currency conversion. One conventional cost is missing here: none of these brokers charges custody, because with a CFD there is no share being held for you in the first place.

Currency conversion is worth a moment if you are trading US equities from outside the US. Most of the world's most active stocks are priced in dollars, and every one of these brokers offers accounts in several base currencies - so funding in USD removes a conversion you would otherwise pay on every trade.

Non-trading fees

Non-trading fees

Broker	Inactivity fee	Currency conversion	Min. withdrawal	Withdrawal time
IC Markets9.5	None on Global; EU: 10 account-currency units/month after 6 months inactivity	Conversion at applicable exchange rate/charges; no fixed percentage published	No minimum	Same-day processing before cutoff; cards typically 3-5 business days; international wire up to 14 days
TabTrade9.3	No inactivity fee	Conversion rate may include a currency conversion fee	No minimum	Typically 1 business day processing; cards 1-3 business days; Skrill/Neteller 1-2 business days; bank transfer 2-5 business days
Eightcap9.2	10 units of base currency/month after 3 months inactivity	Conversion rate/fee applies where currencies differ	$50 for bank transfer, BPAY, Skrill and Neteller; no minimum for cards/PayPal	1 business day for Skrill/Neteller; 1-5 business days for cards, PayPal and bank transfer
FxPro9.1	Not on record	Currency conversion applies where funding/account currencies differ	No minimum	Processed 24/5; typically within 1 business day, plus payment-provider processing time
XM9.1	$10/month after 90 days inactivity	Not on record	$5	Instant/same-day processing where automatically approved; bank wire and cards typically 2-5 business days
Markets.com9.0	$10/month after 3 months inactivity	0.6%	$5 Skrill/Neteller; $10 cards; $100 wire transfer	Typically 2-7 business days depending on method
AvaTrade8.9	$50 after 3 consecutive months inactivity; $100 administration fee after 12 months where permitted	Currency conversion spread/markup applies where account and instrument currencies differ	$100	AvaTrade processing within 24 business hours; arrival depends on payment method

From our broker records. Banks, card issuers and third-party payment providers can charge on top of anything the broker does or does not charge.

Share CFDs or real shares?

This is the decision that should come before choosing a broker at all, because the two products answer different questions.

The difference, line by line

Nine of the ten brokers here specialise in the left column. It is the better instrument for taking a view on a company over days or weeks, in either direction, without funding the full value of the position.

The trade-off is that you do not own anything. No voting rights, no dividend as such, and a financing charge every night a leveraged position stays open.

If the plan is to build a portfolio, collect dividends and hold for years, a conventional stockbroking account is the right tool and this page is the wrong list. If the plan is active trading across shares alongside forex, indices and commodities from one account, it is the right one.

Short selling and trading out of hours

Every broker in this top ten lets you short a share CFD directly, on margin, without borrowing stock yourself - which is the clearest practical advantage these accounts have over a conventional share dealing account. That is also why there is no table for it: the answer is the same at all ten.

The risk is not symmetrical, though. A long position can only fall to zero; a short position loses more the further the price rises, and leverage widens both ends of that.

Extended-hours trading is where they differ. Earnings land outside the exchange session, and the ability to trade around them is not universal.

Trading outside the main session

Trading outside the main session

Broker	Extended hours	US shares covered	Trade around earnings
IC Markets9.5	Limited	Yes	Yes
TabTrade9.3	Standard sessions only	Yes	Yes
Eightcap9.2	Product dependent	Yes	Yes
FxPro9.1	Yes	51 major US shares	Yes
XM9.1	Product dependent	Yes	Yes
Markets.com9.0	On selected products	Yes	Yes
AvaTrade8.9	Product dependent	Yes	Yes

FxPro runs extended hours on 51 heavily traded US stocks, and eToro offers 24/5 trading on 100 popular US names. The rest are product-dependent or confined to the standard session.

Liquidity is thinner outside the main session, so spreads widen and prices move further on less volume. It is a facility for reacting to news, not a cheaper time to trade.

Can I trust these brokers?

The group holds licences from the FCA, ASIC, CySEC, the Central Bank of Ireland and others - but a group's licences are not your licences. What protects you is the specific legal entity your account is opened with, which is named in the account-opening documents and varies by where you live.

Two entries deserve a second look before you fund them. Markets.com holds CySEC and FSCA licences with a Saint Vincent registration used for other regions, so which entity you land in matters more here than at the multi-licence groups. And TabTrade launched in 2026 under a single Mauritius licence, with no statutory compensation scheme and, on our record, without negative balance protection - a real difference from every other broker on this list.

Trust metrics

Trust metrics

Broker	Regulators	Founded	Client money segregated	Negative balance protection	Compensation scheme
IC Markets9.5	ASICCySECFSA (Seychelles)+2	2007	Yes	Yes	ICF up to €20,000 for eligible EU clients; Raw Trading Ltd insolvency insurance up to US$1,000,000
TabTrade9.3	FSC (Mauritius)	2026	Yes	No	No statutory investor compensation scheme
Eightcap9.2	ASICFCACySEC+3	2009	Yes	Yes	FSCS up to £85,000 for eligible UK clients; ICF up to €20,000 for eligible EU clients
FxPro9.1	FCACySECFSCA (South Africa)+2	1999	Yes	Yes	FSCS up to £85,000 for eligible UK clients; ICF up to €20,000 for eligible CySEC clients
XM9.1	CySECASICDFSA (DIFC)+2	2009	Yes	Yes	ICF up to €20,000 for eligible CySEC clients
Markets.com9.0	CySECFSCA (South Africa)	2008	Yes	Yes	Investor Compensation Fund up to €20,000 for eligible CySEC clients
AvaTrade8.9	Central Bank of IrelandASICFSA (Japan)+7	2006	Yes	Yes	Irish Investor Compensation Scheme for eligible EU clients; no compensation scheme under several international entities

From our broker records. Negative balance protection and compensation schemes depend on the entity you are onboarded to and your client classification.

The top 7, one by one

#1

IC Markets

9.5/10

Recommended for active traders who want competitive share CFD pricing and MetaTrader 5.

Overall rating

9.5 / 10

Markets rating

9.4 / 10

Minimum deposit

$200

Minimum trade

0.01 lots

Spread from

0.0 pips

Commission

$3.50 per side / $7 round turn (Raw Spread MetaTrader)

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 0.8 pips

Maximum leverage

1:30

Platforms

MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView

Demo account

Yes, expires after 30 days of inactivity

Copy trading

IC Social; cTrader Copy; ZuluTrade; Myfxbook AutoTrade; Signal Start

Support

24/7

Founded

2007

Share CFDs

700+

Equity markets

NASDAQ, NYSE, ASX

Smallest US position

0.1 share

Regulation

ASICCySECFSA (Seychelles)SCB (Bahamas)+1

IC Markets is the highest-rated broker on our table, and its equity range is a genuine part of that rather than an afterthought: more than 700 share CFDs across NASDAQ, NYSE and the Australian Securities Exchange, which is unusually good Australian coverage for a broker of this kind.

Stock CFDs trade through MetaTrader 5. US shares can be traded from 0.1 of a share, so a position in a company trading at several hundred dollars does not require several hundred dollars of exposure.

Pricing is $0.02 per share per side on NASDAQ and NYSE products subject to a minimum, and a percentage of transaction value on Australian shares - a different model to the flat per-trade commission a conventional broker charges, and cheaper on small positions.

Shares can be traded long or short, and dividend adjustments are applied to eligible open positions.

Open an account with IC MarketsRead our full IC Markets review

#2

TabTrade

9.3/10

Recommended for traders who want the widest share CFD list here, with low commissions on MetaTrader 5.

Overall rating

9.3 / 10

Markets rating

9.6 / 10

Minimum deposit

$0

Minimum trade

0.01 lots

Spread from

0.0 pips

Commission

$3.50 per side / $7 round turn (Edge)

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 0.73 pips

Maximum leverage

1:1000

Platforms

MetaTrader 5

Demo account

Yes

Copy trading

Yes, TabTrade Social

Support

24/7

Founded

2026

Share CFDs

1,009

Equity regions

US, Europe, Hong Kong

ETF CFDs

Yes

Regulation

FSC (Mauritius)

TabTrade lists 1,009 share CFDs, which is the largest count of any broker in this top ten and, notably, the great majority of the 1,173 instruments it offers in total. This is a broker built around equities rather than one that added them.

Coverage runs past the US exchanges into European industrials, automotive and luxury names and large Hong Kong listings, which is broader geographic reach than most MetaTrader brokers manage.

ETF CFDs sit in the same MetaTrader 5 account, so moving between a single company and a sector basket does not mean moving platform. Positions can be long or short, with dividend and corporate-action adjustments applied.

The caveat is the firm rather than the product. TabTrade launched in 2026 under a single Mauritius FSC licence, with no statutory compensation scheme behind it and, on our record, no negative balance protection. Weigh that against the equity range rather than reading only one of the two.

Open an account with TabTradeRead our full TabTrade review

#3

Eightcap

9.2/10

Recommended for active share CFD traders who want to analyse and trade in TradingView.

Overall rating

9.2 / 10

Markets rating

9.1 / 10

Minimum deposit

$100

Minimum trade

0.01 lots

Spread from

0.0 pips

Commission

$3.50 per side / $7 round turn, Raw

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 0.76 pips

Maximum leverage

1:30

Platforms

MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, TradingView, TradeLocker

Demo account

Yes

Copy trading

Yes, through supported third-party integrations

Support

24/5

Founded

2009

Smallest position

0.01 lots on selected shares

Regulation

ASICFCACySECSCB (Bahamas)+2

Eightcap's share CFDs cover major global companies across technology, finance, energy and other sectors - Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Netflix among them - with minimum volumes as low as 0.01 lots on selected shares.

Its distinguishing feature is TradingView. Being able to analyse a chart and place the trade in the same window, rather than analysing in one tool and executing in another, is a meaningful workflow difference for anyone trading equities technically.

MetaTrader 5 is available alongside it, and the account opens from $100.

Founded in 2009 and regulated by ASIC, the FCA, CySEC and the Bahamas SCB, it is well licensed for its size. Its ETF coverage is the thinner part of the offering.

Open an account with EightcapRead our full Eightcap review

#4

FxPro

9.1/10

Recommended for traders who want thousands of global shares and the ability to trade US names out of hours.

Overall rating

9.1 / 10

Markets rating

9.1 / 10

Minimum deposit

$0

Minimum trade

0.01 lots

Spread from

0.0 pips

Commission

$3.50 per side / $7 round turn

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 1.13 pips

Maximum leverage

1:30

Platforms

MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView, FxPro Trading Platform

Demo account

Yes, 180-day lifespan

Copy trading

Yes, cTrader Copy

Support

24/5

Founded

1999

Share CFDs

Thousands

Extended hours

51 major US stocks

ETF CFDs

Yes

Regulation

FCACySECFSCA (South Africa)SCB (Bahamas)+1

FxPro offers CFDs on thousands of shares across the US, UK and several European markets, which puts it among the deepest equity ranges here without leaving the MetaTrader and cTrader ecosystem.

Its distinctive feature is extended-hours trading on 51 heavily traded US stocks. Earnings and company announcements routinely land outside the exchange session, and being able to take a position then rather than at the next open is a genuine edge - with the caveat that liquidity is thinner and spreads wider.

ETF CFDs cover equities, bonds, commodities, currencies, real estate and volatility, which is a broader ETF range than most of this list.

It is also the oldest firm here, trading since 1999 and regulated by the FCA and CySEC among others - a longer record than the 2006 date the sector often quotes for it.

Open an account with FxProRead our full FxPro review

#5

XM

9.1/10

Recommended for traders who want exposure to big US names without committing much capital.

Overall rating

9.1 / 10

Markets rating

9.0 / 10

Minimum deposit

$5

Minimum trade

0.01 lots

Spread from

0.8 pips

Commission

$0 on Standard and Ultra Low accounts

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 0.8 pips

Maximum leverage

1:30

Platforms

MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, XM App

Demo account

Yes

Copy trading

Yes, XM Copy Trading

Support

24/7

Founded

2009

Fractional trading

Yes

Share commission

$0 on selected products

Regulation

CySECASICDFSA (DIFC)FSC (Belize)+1

XM's stock derivatives cover the widely followed US technology and consumer companies, and the account opens for $5 - the lowest entry on this list that is not zero.

Fractional positions are the point here. A single share in an expensive company can be more exposure than a small account should carry, and XM's stock derivatives let you take a fraction of one instead.

Selected stock products trade without a separate commission, though spreads, overnight financing and conversion still apply, so this is cheaper rather than free.

Platforms are MetaTrader 4 and 5 plus XM's own app, with support running 24/7.

Open an account with XMRead our full XM review

#6

Markets.com

9.0/10

Recommended for traders who want shares and ETFs through a simple platform of the broker's own.

Overall rating

9.0 / 10

Markets rating

9.2 / 10

Minimum deposit

$100

Minimum trade

0.01 lots

Spread from

0.6 pips

Commission

$0

All-in cost, EUR/USD

0.6 pips

Maximum leverage

1:30

Platforms

Markets.com Web Platform, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5

Demo account

Yes

Copy trading

No

Support

24/5

Founded

2008

Share CFDs

249

ETF CFDs

67

Regulation

CySECFSCA (South Africa)

Markets.com lists 249 share CFDs and 67 ETF CFDs alongside indices and other markets. That is a smaller equity catalogue than several brokers here, and the ETF range is the more interesting half of it: broad-market, sector, thematic, commodity and leveraged products.

Its own web platform sits alongside MetaTrader 4 and 5, so you can start somewhere simplified and move to a third-party platform without changing broker.

Forex pricing is spread-based from 0.6 pips with no commission, and share pricing works the same way, with the broker's compensation built into the spread rather than charged separately.

One thing to check before funding: it holds CySEC and FSCA licences with a Saint Vincent registration used for other regions, so the entity you are onboarded to matters more here than at the groups holding a dozen licences. It also charges 0.6% on currency conversion, which is worth knowing if you are trading US shares from a non-dollar account.

Open an account with Markets.comRead our full Markets.com review

#7

AvaTrade

8.9/10

Recommended for traders who want global stocks and ETFs with a real choice of platforms.

Overall rating

8.9 / 10

Markets rating

9.3 / 10

Minimum deposit

$100

Minimum trade

0.01 lots

Spread from

0.9 pips

Commission

$0

All-in cost, EUR/USD

0.9 pips

Maximum leverage

1:30

Platforms

MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, AvaTrade WebTrader, AvaTrade App, AvaOptions

Demo account

Yes, unlimited

Copy trading

AvaSocial; DupliTrade

Support

Monday-Friday, 05:00-21:00 GMT for English support

Founded

2006

Equity markets

US, European and Asian

ETF CFDs

Yes

Regulation

Central Bank of IrelandASICFSA (Japan)FSRA (ADGM)+6

AvaTrade's equity range covers major US, European and Asian companies - Apple, Tesla and Microsoft alongside names such as Alibaba - as CFDs, with ETF CFDs available on top for traders who would rather take a position on a sector than a single company.

Platform choice is the widest of any broker in this ten: MetaTrader 4 and 5, its own WebTrader, the AvaTrade app and AvaOptions, plus AvaSocial and DupliTrade for copy trading.

Founded in 2006 and regulated in Ireland, Australia, Japan, South Africa and elsewhere, it has the broadest spread of tier-one licences on the list.

Watch the inactivity terms if you trade equities occasionally rather than daily: $50 after three consecutive months, plus a $100 administration fee after twelve.

Open an account with AvaTradeRead our full AvaTrade review

How we chose these brokers

This list ranks on our overall rating, restricted to brokers offering shares, equities or ETFs. It is about trading equities at a multi-asset broker rather than conventional buy-and-hold stockbroking, and for that we weigh:

• The range of share CFDs and equity markets covered
• Access to the most actively traded US companies
• International equities beyond the US
• ETF availability
• Share commissions and spreads, and the financing charged overnight
• Whether you can go short, and on what margin
• The smallest position the broker will take
• Extended-hours trading where it exists
• Platform quality for finding and trading a single stock
• Regulation, the entity you are onboarded to, and client-money protection

We also separate underlying investments from CFDs, because a broker offering 5,000 real stocks is not offering the same product as one offering 1,000 share CFDs. The first is built around ownership; the second around leverage, short selling and speed.